FURNITURE store Habitat, a one-time pinnacle of British interior design, went into administration yesterday.

Ending a turbulent week for the high street, the move means up to 30 stores and 720 jobs are now at risk.

Zolfo Cooper, the firm appointed as administrator, said it would assess all possible options for the group and keep the stores open while it tries to find buyers.

The collapse of the UK branch brings the group almost full circle back to where it started when design guru Sir Terence Conran opened the first Habitat store in the Fulham Road in 1964.

In future, the Habitat fascia will hang on just three London branches which will largely serve as showrooms to help develop an online business.

Habitat has one store in Cardiff in a prominent site in the city centre.

Homebase and Argos owner Home Retail Group yesterday bought the rights to the Habitat brand in the UK, the website and the three stores in central London for £24.5m in a deal struck almost immediately after it went into administration.

But the story may not end there for the Habitat name, which is enjoying better success in Europe.

The collapse of Habitat completes a terrible week for UK retailers, as consumers cut back in the face of the squeeze on household incomes.

Homeform, the owner of Moben kitchens, bathroom chain Dolphin and Sharps bedrooms, said on Thursday it intended to appoint administrators, putting 1,300 jobs at risk, while on Wednesday Comet owner Kesa said it was considering a sale of the electricals retailer after it posted losses of £8.9m.

Richard Dodd from the British Retail Consortium said a recent tough trading time has hit retailers who sell home and electrical goods hard. He said: “Our retail sales monitor shows there’s no question that things are very, very difficult now we’ve got past the distortion of Easter and the extra Bank Holidays, particularly for the retailers selling the big ticket items and things that are related to the state of the housing market.

“Customers are feeling that their own personal finances are under real pressure from a combination of rising costs, falling disposable incomes, falling house prices.

“People are feeling nervous about their job security so they’re reluctant to buy. It’s the retailers selling the more expensive items that are suffering.”

Fraser Gray, a partner at Zolfo Cooper said: “The company has been suffering from cash flow difficulties in recent months. This, combined with the current tough trading environment for retailers, has led to the need for our appointment.

“We will continue to assess all possible options for the remaining parts of the business and would welcome expressions of interest from interested parties.”

Comet rival Dixons Retail has also reported falling profits, down to £85.3m from £90.9m in the year to April.

The group, which also owns PC World and Currys, slumped to a heavy bottom-line loss of £224.1m after making large accounting write-offs on the value of businesses in Spain and Greece.

The group said it expected to reduce its portfolio in the UK and Ireland to 450 stores, comprising 70 high street stores, 310 superstores and 70 megastores.